1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma television, a flat panel display fixing structure, a flat panel television, and a method of assembling a flat panel television.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 10 shows a conventional arrangement in which a flat panel display such as a plasma display panel is fixed to prescribed supporting members.
In FIG. 10, the back side of a flat panel display 1 is shown. The flat panel display 1 is, at its back, fixed to two brackets 4 (shown in two-dot chain lines) used as supporting members. To be more concrete, each of the brackets 4 is connected to the flat panel display 1 via connecting members 3 which are fixed in an upper and a lower location on each of the left-hand and the right-hand sides of the back of the flat panel display 1. The connecting members 3 are fixed, to be apart from each other by a prescribed distance, to fixing members 2 which, each having a prescribed length and being made of plate metal, are fixed in an upper and a lower location, respectively, on the back of the flat panel display 1.
There has been a known conventional technology in which general-purpose blocks each having an inner wall surface and an outer wall surface both bent at right angles are used (for example, JP-A No. 149082/2002, hereinafter referenced as patent document one). The general-purpose blocks are compatible with different sizes of liquid crystal displays. In this technique, a liquid crystal display is supported by having a plural number of its corners held by as many of the general-purpose blocks. That is, the inner wall surface of each of the general-purpose blocks is engaged with one of the plural number of corners.
In the arrangement shown in FIG. 10, the locations where the fixing members 2 are fixed on the back of the flat panel display 1 vary with display panel manufacturers. The height of the fixing members 2 from the back of the flat panel display 1 also varies between display panel manufacturers. Furthermore, the connecting members 3 having a specific shape are factory fixed in specific locations on the fixing members 2 that differ, between flat panel display manufacturers, both in height and locations of installation. Therefore, in a case where different makes of the flat panel displays 1 are used in assembling televisions, it has been difficult to uniformize the positional relationship between the flat panel display 1 and the brackets 4.
To uniformize the positional relationship between different makes of the flat panel displays 1 and the brackets 4, it has been necessary to prepare as many types of the connecting members 3 as the number of makes of the flat panel displays 1 with each type of the connecting members 3 made to fit the shape and locations of the fixing members 2 used for a specific make of the flat panel display 1.
The general-purpose blocks disclosed in the patent document one do not adjust the positional relationship between liquid crystal displays and corresponding supporting members such as brackets used to support the liquid crystal displays.
In cases where a flat panel display is installed in a cabinet for flat panel television, as shown in FIG. 13, the flat panel display 6 is fixed to the front cabinet 15 via the prescribed connecting members 7.
A liquid crystal display fixing method according to JP-A No. 305066/2000 (hereinafter referenced as patent document two) is another conventionally known technique. In the method, brackets are fixed to a color crystal liquid display with screws, and the brackets are then fixed to a liquid crystal display base part with screws.
A still another technique is disclosed in JP-A No. 255851/2003 (hereinafter referenced as patent document three). In the technique, a display part is fixed to a front side support using an adhesive member, and engagement tabs provided in a supporting part of the front side support are engaged with a front cover.
In the conventional installation of a flat panel display, the flat panel display 6 is fixed to the front cabinet 15 via the connecting members 7 causing the weight of the flat panel display 6 to be applied to the front cabinet 15.
Similarly, in the arrangement disclosed in the patent document two, the weight of the color liquid crystal display is applied directly to the liquid crystal display base part. In the arrangement disclosed in the patent document three, the weight of the display part is applied to the front cover that is a cabinet for the device via the engagement tabs provided in the supporting part.
As described above, a problem with the conventional techniques is that the weight of a flat panel display causes a television cabinet to be subjected to a large load eventually causing the television cabinet to be deformed or otherwise become defective. There has also been another problem that a load applied to a television cabinet from the outside can be easily transmitted to a flat panel display which is a precision device accommodated in the television cabinet.